Thursday, August 09, 2012

WWE SummerSlam Matches Confirmed

WWE added two items to the Summerslam PPV line-up in two weeks. Most notable is Shawn Michaels in Triple H's corner for Hunter's headline match against Brock Lesnar.

WWE also announced Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a singles match. WWE did not draw attention to Charlie Sheen, who was mentioned for a potential fight/confrontation/scrap/match against Bryan in recent weeks.

There is a good chance that Chris Jericho will also be on the card, as his rock band 'Fozzy' are not going ahead with their prior rock concert commitment.

Australia fans can order WWE SummerSlam via Foxtel - Main Event TV. The PPV will be broadcast on Main Event on Monday 10th August at 10am.

WWE superstar "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry has been attendance at various events at Olympic Park to catch Olympic action.

The Olympic Games is used to seeing huge performances, but there can be fewer bigger performers at London 2012 than Henry.

Six foot three, 412lb WWE superstar Mark Henry has been in attendance to take in the sights and sounds of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Henry knows all about life as an Olympian after his time representing Team USA in weightlifting in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

As a weightlifter, Henry gained recognition for his intimidating size and massive strength.

His talents were rewarded three years later when Henry won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Pan American Games.

His successes on the podium did not go unnoticed. Impressed by his sporting achievements, WWE signed Mark Henry in 1996 sparking an illustrious career that is as impressive today as his Olympic performances of old.

He continues to follow weightlifting and is apparently scouting talent for the WWE at this year’s Olympic competition.

The Media Man agency reckons WWE would do well to check out Olympic shot putter Reese Hoffa. He appears to have the "It Factor". How well he would adapt to WWE rings in yet to be known, but surly worth more investigation.

The San Antonio Police Department has issued a police report on an alleged incident involving WWE Diva Rosa Mendes (real name Milena Roucka) that began Sunday in Las Vegas and carried over to San Antonio when Roucka arrived in San Antonio for Monday's Raw. The following was reported by TMZ:

- Roucka alleged that she was assaulted by her fiance, former WWE wrestler Jackson Andrews, who infamously had a very brief stint on WWE TV as Tyson Kidd's bodyguard. Roucka told police that she "was afraid (her fiance) would try to kill her." She also stated the abuse was "on-going."

- The rumor of Roucka being intoxicated at the San Antonio Airport was included in the police report. Police said Roucka was under the influence of alcohol at the time they made contact with her at the airport. However, Roucka was not arrested, as was rumored, but escorted from the airport by police.

- Mendes filed a battery report around 10:17 p.m. on Sunday night and police took 30 photos of where she appeared to have bruises and scratches on her body from the alleged assault.

- WWE issued a statement to TMZ on the serious nature of the situation, which read: "Milena Roucka contacted a WWE Talent Relations representative this morning to notify WWE that, upon her arrival in San Antonio last evening, she contacted police at the airport to report alleged domestic abuse that occurred just prior to her flight."

WWE added that the company will "provide her with professional assistance." Jackson Andrews, real name Andy Slocum, was not able to be reached for comment.

WWE RAW social media score up 54 percent - 7th August 2012

Monday's WWE Raw episode was up 54 percent in social media activity compared to last week's post-1,000 hangover show as WWE tries to find a baseline during the three-hour era. Raw scored 401,202 on Monday, up from 259,203 last week, but down from a record 907,443 two weeks ago. Raw ranked #4 on cable TV Monday night, trailing Olympics coverage on NBC Universal and "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" on VH1.( Data: Trendrr.tv )

A South Korean wrestler nicknamed 'Mowgli' won gold in the Greco-Roman wrestling at the London Games on Tuesday, overcoming a badly swollen eye that left him struggling to see properly.

Kim Hyeonwoo, 23, beat Hungary's Tamas Lorincz in the 66kg final, the third lightest category in one of the world's oldest and most physical sports.

With his mop of black hair and winning smile, he bears more than a passing resemblance to the little boy raised by wolves in the Disney adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic stories, "The Jungle Book".

"In my high school, I used to run around in my bare feet, so my friends gave the nickname of Mowgli," he said. "I'm very happy with that, even though my foreign friends in the (wrestling) fights keep calling me Mowgli, Mowgli."

Kim's bruising route to the final owed more to the Rocky films than Disney, however. He suffered a nasty blow to the right eye in the first qualifying round and it had closed by the time he reached the final.

"I couldn't open the eye, I couldn't see," he said. "The swelling got bigger and bigger as I went on."

After winning the final, Kim knelt on the wrestling mat and kissed his country's flag as a packed arena cheered.

IRAN'S HAT-TRICK

There was more success for Iran in the second final of the night when Ghasem Rezaei won the Greco-Roman heavyweight class, taking his country's wrestling gold tally to three.

The Iranian, who only managed 16th place in Beijing four years ago, beat Russia's Rustam Totrov in the final of the 96kg weight class.

Jubilant Iranian supporters roared and waved their nation's flags as Rezaei kissed and hugged his coach in celebration.

Rezaei had beaten the Armenian favourite Artur Aleksanyan in the quarter-final. Totrov won bronze at the world championships in 2011 and was among the favourites for gold in London.

"To see all the Iranians inside the stadium and back home, to bring smiles to their faces is the happiest moment of my life," said Rezaei.

It was the final day of the Greco-Roman, a discipline where holds must be above the waist and athletes are restricted from using their legs to bring down an opponent.

The freestyle - where athletes can use their legs to defend and attack - runs from Wednesday to Sunday. (Reuters)

Pro wrestling mogul Linda McMahon finds herself in a familiar position this summer -- attacked as a candidate depending more on her personal wealth than her political skills to win a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut -- but once again the likely Republican primary winner.

The only real difference for the millionaire, former professional wrestling executive is the primary attacks this year have been exceptionally harsh, even compared to those against McMahon in her debut 2010 run.

One ad two years ago shows a wrestler pretending to smash a folding chair over the head of his opponent, then McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment chief executive officer, standing in the ring hand-in-hand with husband and company founder Vince McMahon.

This year’s primary opponent, former GOP Rep. Christopher Shays, recently called McMahon “clueless” and said she is the political opponent for whom he has the least respect, after having served 32 years in elected office.

“I have never run against an opponent that I have respected less,” Shays told the New Haven Register after a July 18 debate, then characterized McMahon’s performance as “embarrassingly clueless.”

McMahon’s camp and political analysts have said the recent comments from the well-respect Shays suggest his frustration and realization that his political career might be coming to a close as McMahon holds a significant lead just weeks before the August primary.

“It has become increasingly clear that Shays has become unglued,” McMahon campaign manager Tim Murtaugh said. “It’s sad to see his career end this way.”

A recent Quinnipiac poll shows McMahon leading Shays by 29 points.

Shays, a moderate with support from such Washington Republicans as Karl Rove, appeared to suggest after the debate that he faces long odds in extending his political career, considering the campaign could not afford TV ads – crucial when trailing late and because he has under-whelming name recognition despite 21 years in the House.

His campaign said this week it had received an infusion of money for media buys and remains optimistic about winning.

Communications Director Amanda Bergen didn’t question the validity of the Quinnipiac poll, but said it might not reflect true voter sentiment because voters disconnect during the summer.

“People won’t start paying attention until early August,” she said.

Bergen said the campaign is also focusing on Republican primary voters and spending its advertising money in their specific markets.

“This election is too important to waste,” she said. “Chris votes on principle (and) he has the experience to hit the ground running.”

The Shays campaign also has repeatedly characterized McMahon as scripted and unprepared for Congress, much like she was criticized in the 2010 primary against former Rep. Rob Simmons and in the general election with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who defeated her.

Regardless of who wins, either candidate will have a difficult time defeating the Democrat challenger in the race for the open seat of Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, considering the blue state has a no Republicans in either the House or Senate.

Meanwhile, McMahon continues to poor millions of her own money into the race, as she did in 2010. And her campaign continues to stick to its message and look ahead to a match up with likely Democratic nominee Rep. Chris Murphy.

“Linda McMahon will be the Republican winner on the night of August 14,” Murtaugh told FoxNews.com.

He also said the campaign is sticking to its grass-roots campaign effort to contacts thousands of voters and tell people that McMahon is not a career Washington politician, but in fact a jobs creator whose wrestling business started as a kitchen table operation that once went bankrupt.

“She understands the plight of the small business person because she has lived through it,” Murtaugh said. (Fox News)

The rumor has been covered on several pro-wrestling news sites, including Mexican wrestling website SuperLuchas, WrestlingInc.com and Pro Wrestling Observer.

SuperLuchas—as well as multiple sources throughout the Internet—claims that the news was first broken by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, despite the lack of evidence of the reputable newsletter ever publishing such news.

According to the websites which cite the alleged Wrestling Observer Newsletter report:

Lesnar left the building after getting into a physical altercation with fellow WWE superstar, Ryan Reeves, known in ring as Ryback.

Not much information is being let out, but the source says Lesnar was in the arena early to rehearse a major angle with SummerSlam opponent Triple H. Before things even began, Reeves, who was also in the building, got into a heated argument with Lesnar. It is uncertain what the argument was about.

Reeves put his hands on Lesnar, though the source tells us that people who witnessed it said Reeves was going to apologize. Lesnar shoved Reeves back and a shoving match ensued. Lesnar threw Reeves to the floor and hit him in the face three times before being pulled off.

Reeves suffered a laceration above his left eyebrow which is required stitches. 'Ryback' will not be competing tonight as he was originally planned. Lesnar left the building immediately, and all efforts to reach him have failed.